So it's been available for a few weeks now... what do people think of Pro Tools LE 7? I'm still annoyed that timecode isn't included. But the new instrument tracks are nice! Also the plugin optimizations are SWEET. What a difference!

- Alexey
Engineer/Mixer

http://www.thelexfactory.com

I have not had much time to play with Pro Tools 7 yet, however I agree that it is a disgrace that the only way you can have timecode with Pro Tools LE is to buy the DV Tool Kit which is about £650. All other music software would include this rather basic feature for free. I am always at a loss as to why Digidesign think it is ok to charge extortionate prices for simple add ons!!!!!!

Hi Mark!

The reason ProTools charges so much is because they CAN. In a free-market economy, companies should be allowed to charge whatever they want for their products. Apparently, DigiDesign has a large group of people who really like their product and don't care to pay those prices. If you're like me, however, you've grown to hate DigiDesigns methods, so the best way to "stick it to the man," so to speak, is to not buy their products. I quit using DigiDesign products last year and started using other options, and I don't miss ProTools at all. Sure, ProTools is still an industry standard, but my hope is that others will become just as dissatisfied as I and find better, more forgiving options for audio editing. Empires can fall, you know.

The performance increase of PT 7 over 6.9 is fantastic. Having more busses and instrument tracks is great. The cost of the upgrade can be had for only $75, which is way cheaper than most other 'upgrades' that don't offer as much. For another $25 I got Synchronic and DINR which are great. I would have gotten the Pultec bundle if I didn't already have it. The Pultec plug-ins are wonderful, especially for drums. As far as the time code issue, I would guess that they assume that anyone who cares about time code isn't a LE user, but probably a TDM user and they have lots of money.

The thing that grinds me is that in order to export a PT LE file as OMF so that I can go back and forth with Logic, I have to buy DigiTranslator and that costs $500! That's a lot to pay for convenience. I would pay maybe $100 for a stripped down OMF translator, but $500 is ridiculous. Otherwise, I still think Pro Tools LE is a great bargain. Now if they improved the preamps in my Digi002...

Thanks for that hahaworld.

I must admit it is for the reasons you have listed, that I am mainly a Logic user, however when moving in and out of studios, whose industry standard is Pro-Tools, I find my LE system indespensible as it would be impracticle for me to go everywhere with a full TDM rig.

It's just frustrating to have to keep giving away loads of cash to manufacturers constatntly for simple things. Anyone would think the music industry was wallowing about in loads of cash!!!!